Meltwater, an online media monitoring company, recently launched a report that shared current trends in social media for 2023. 

The report offered findings from over 1,700 marketing and communications professionals globally. The short: paid and organic social media are expected to increase in 2023. Garden businesses must stay at the top of their game and adapt while also increasing their skillset. 

In the report, social media platforms were ranked by usage and popularity. Facebook is still holding the top ranking, followed by LinkedIn and Instagram. YouTube, Twitter, and TikTok remain relevant while being slightly less popular than the top three. Short-form video is hot right now on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. 

Read on to learn more about how social media has maintained and even gained importance during the current economic development. 

You may be thinking, Pinterest? Since when?

You may be surprised to know that Pinterest is going strong, with 250 million monthly active users. While the platform has historically been popular among Millennials and Gen X, Gen Z is catching on, too.

According to Sprout Social, Gen Z is projected to make up nearly 26 million users within the next three years. Making Pinterest a unique platform that can bridge generational gaps and should not be left out of your social media strategy.

Pinterest offers a unique marketing opportunity for garden industry brands. While the platform allows you to follow friends and see their boards, that’s not what Pinterest is all about. It is an all-in-one platform for shopping, education, inspiration, and more. Most users on Pinterest are actively researching products and preparing for their next project. 

What else makes Pinterest different?

Read on to learn why garden brands should use Pinterest to drive brand awareness and boost product sales.

What if we told you there was a social media platform that has over 430 million active users, billions of visits each month, and is being overlooked by most companies?

The new year has begun and that means trade show season! Unfortunately, with the ever-evolving pandemic, there is still a lot of uncertainty about how the shows will unfold.

The first of the year is always MANTS, the Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show, celebrating its 52^nd show in Baltimore. With masks on, thousands of attendees joined the hundreds of exhibitors for three days of shopping, buying, and relationship building in the horticulture industry.

Like always, MANTS did not disappoint and there was no shortage of hot new plant releases and cool new tools and products. No worries if you couldn’t make it, we’ve wrapped up a “To-Go” list of some of the most eye-catching new products from the show.

Pantone’s 2022 Color of the Year, “Very Peri,” a custom periwinkle with hints of violet-red, is popping up on taste makers’ radars around the country. From delicate blossoms to vibrant foliage, you can find periwinkles and purples in a vast array of landscape plants. As trendy pollinator, edible, and cutting gardens are poised to capture gardeners’ attention in spring 2022, the following periwinkle plants offer an inspiring infusion of this year’s “it” color.

A love of gardens and plants have been prevalent throughout history at many major event spaces and attractions. Recently, the love of gardening is breaking into the sports world and has become the center of attention at some major league baseball (MLB) stadiums. With interest in gardening continuing to become more and more popular, even the players and faculty have joined in to help create these gardens. Here are some of our favorite gardens in the MLB.

Gardening is on the tip of everyone’s tongues as unprecedented millions took to plants during the pandemic. Are you speaking the new gardener’s language?

This report analyzes millions of social media posts and articles written across the course of the pandemic. These gardening posts reveal key patterns in language and sentiment – and represent a significant shift in the way the public talked about plants before and after COVID-19.

Navigating emerging pandemic trends and topics, Mind the Gap helps readers better relate to the gardening public – and gain the trust of the new gardener.

I recently had the pleasure of co-presenting with Sam Kirkland of Epicor and Jennifer Hatalski of Calloway's about Customer Loyalty. What is it? How do you get it? And what the trends today are (my section... obviously.) 

We learned that with so many competitors, it is tough for small garden brands to get ahead of the curve. Small brands often double up efforts to get recognized against more established brands. Why?

• 82% stopped dealing with businesses with poor customer service.
• It costs 5% more to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one satisfied and happy.
• Loyal repetitive customers spend 33% more than new ones.
• 50% of millennials and Gen Zers believe earning rewards is more hassle than it’s worth.

Sam, Jennifer and I described how “Earn and burn,” or pure discount-based programs, are no longer enough. Consumers are looking for something more.

When it comes to loyalty rewards, it’s no longer just about the transaction at point of purchase; it’s about additional experiences and services that create new touchpoints. 

Read more to learn the 5 Trends in Customer Loyalty sure to keep customers coming back.

In the modern digital age, new social media platforms pop up every other day. And as quickly as they come, they often fizzle out faster than you can say YikYak, ClubHouse, or Vine. It’s a whirlwind for anyone trying to create a digital marketing strategy!

When TikTok came to the stage, many assumed it, too, wouldn’t last. Yet it continues to be the number one downloaded app, and users average 80 minutes a day scrolling through endless videos. We predict it is here to stay.

Read more to learn how this “clock” app works and how your garden brand can use it. 

The headlines seem to be everywhere – skyrocketing plant sales, seed shortages, and a cut flower frenzy. On the heels of the pandemic, 2021 has seen a fervor for plants and garden goods that our industry hasn’t experienced in years.

As industry struggles to meet the demands of the massive “plantdemic” gardening trend, many are acutely aware of how limited supplies are this spring.

And this has led to an important question: how much of the “sold out blues” are consumers feeling? 

This spring, many gardeners (including first-timers) arrived at the garden center ready to shop, only to be met with empty shelves and in some cases, unfulfilled wishes. In our visions of worst-case scenarios, we imagine them getting frustrated and giving up – even abandoning the hobby.

Luckily, social media is giving us insight into consumers’ thoughts and feelings…

Read more to find out what they’re posting - it isn’t what you might expect!